Harmony In Loneliness
by Cabbage Mann
Summary: A young man named Troy has had an awful life. It only gets worse when an evil corporation plans to abduct him, and all the galaxies heroes. How will these warriors fight their captors and escape bondage?
1. Chapter 1 Corporate Tragedy

Characters are owned by Nintendo.

The main character is an Original Character with a unique background. He's American, about 6 feet tall, with brown hair and green eyes; his name's Troy.

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Chapter 1: Corporate Tragedy

Troy thought his life sucked so far. He thought _he'd_ had a crappy childhood. But, he would soon find out that his childhood was a trip to Disney World in comparison to his friend's adolescence.

Troy was born in America, into a middle class, white family. They were all relatively normal people, living normal lives. Or so he had thought anyway. Troy's father was a United States Marine, his mother a Nurse. Troy's father was a "Jarhead" gone "Desk Jockey", he had served two tours: one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.

During a firefight in an Afghan bazaar, Troy's father was shot in the knee, and had to receive a couple surgeries to repair it. He could no longer work in the field, so his commanding officer had moved him to a desk job, hence the title "Desk Jockey." Along with the title, the commanding officer had given Troy's father a new job at a military base in Okinawa, Japan. Troy and his family moved there when he was only 4 years old.

_This is where the suck fest began_, Troy thought, recounting the night that had changed his life. It was a night like any other; Troy's father had just arrived home from his job at the Okinawa base, and Troy's mother had dinner on the table.

"How was work honey?" Troy's mother said.

"It was alright, had to speak with my commanding officer about some problems in tech support, but, it went okay."

"Sit down and have some food then, you must be starving." Troy's mother was always like that, caring and compassionate. She was a nurse at the local hospital, one of the only few on the island.

Troy was sitting on the floor playing with his toys, enjoying himself thoroughly with his stuffed bunny rabbit. He remembered exactly the way he felt that night. He wasn't looking forward to going to preschool in a couple weeks; he wanted to stay home with his mother instead. But, his mother had insisted that he go to preschool and learn about Japanese culture and language, so he could keep up with the other kids in school.

Just as Troy's father was getting situated in his seat at the head of the table, there was a knock on the door. Troy's father got up and started walking to the door. There was a second knock, this time the knock was louder and more urgent.

"Alright okay I'm coming, yeesh." Troy's father muttered. He opened the door and standing in front of him was a soaking wet Asian man in his 30's. He had jet black hair with a full goatee and sideburns. He was wearing a grey sport coat and a black tie, a common business look in Japan.

"There is no time to explain!" The man said urgently. He quickly walked inside, effectively inviting himself in.

"Gendun? What are you doing here, and why are you so wet? It's not even raining out." Troy's father asked incredulously.

"We must hurry; they know who's behind the faulted deal. They're on their way now! We must leave here, now!"

Troy's father froze, and his eyes widened heavily. "How can they know about that? That was months ago, and why are you so we-"

"Their interrogation methods are torturous. Forgive me friend..." Gendun looked down shamefully, and a wave of understanding passed over Troy's father's face. "In any case we have to leave, they're most likely already he-"

A loud shout was heard outside the small home, and an even louder, sharp bang was heard. A hole ripped through the wall and blood splattered across the kitchen wall. Troy's mother fell dead with a loud thump. Troy's father gaped in horror. That look on his father's face would forever be burned into Troy's mind, and would haunt his dreams and thoughts. The Marine's training would have kicked in instantly afterward and he would have gotten low to the floor, to protect him from further shots, but he was frozen in sheer disbelief at the body of his dead wife.

After a second had passed, Troy's father took a step towards his wife. A series of loud shots were heard outside, bullets ripped through the walls, and struck Troy's father. He was hit multiple times, and was dead before he hit the ground.

"God dammit, I was too late. Come child!" Gendun quickly lunged for the four year old Troy, grabbing him roughly around his arm, and ran with his head down for the back room. Tears streamed down Troy's face as bullets tore through the walls around him. Holding onto his stuffed rabbit, Troy followed after Gendun through the small house.

More bullets embodied themselves in the houses frame, breaking glass and causing confusion. The people outside didn't know where to shoot though, so they were just lighting the whole house up.

The pair arrived to the backroom, breathless.

"Listen Troy," Gendun whispered to the wide eyed boy. "I have to get you out of here; we're going to go through this window alright?" Gendun opened a small window on the far wall and quickly pushed Troy through it. Troy landed on the soft ground with a _thud_, and Gendun did the same shortly after.

"Where are we going, Gendun?" Troy asked in deep confusion.

"Somewhere safe," Gendun replied.

After the attack on the small Japanese house, Gendun and Troy escaped in Gendun's car. The hostile men didn't pursue them, for reasons unknown to Troy at the time but, he was sure that if he or Gendun had died as well, the men would not have cared. Troy grew up under Gendun's care; as a friend of Troy's father, Gendun made sure that Troy was taken care of.

Gendun was the first person that the family had met in Japan, and quickly became Troy's father's closest friend. They were also business partners, as Gendun was a private contractor for a large company, and Troy's father was a client for a military weaponry contract. Troy's father handled negotiations between the Marines and the company, and the United States government paid him to make deals with Gendun's company, which dealt weapons to the U.S. All in all, Troy's father was an important link between the United States military and the Japanese weapon makers.

As Troy grew up, Gendun taught him multiple martial arts. Troy learned Jiu Jitsu, Tai Chi, and Muay Thai, all starting when he was 4 years old. He also learned a bit of the art of the sword, Kendo (descended from Kenjutsu), which Gendun wasn't fluent in but, he taught Troy anyway. Gendun believed that the people that assassinated Troy's parents would one day come back for Troy, and Gendun wanted him to be fully prepared.

Troy went to school in Japan, earning excellent marks in all subjects. Gendun was a harsh trainer but, a loving guide none the less. Gendun gave Troy Buddhist teachings as well, teaching Troy meditation and Buddhist ways of thinking. Troy was taught to let go of his feelings of intense anger and hatred towards the men that killed his parents. Gendun had told him that those feelings were, "useless and destructive."

Although Troy liked Gendun and saw him as a friend, Troy was lonely growing up. He didn't make any friends at all in school, not even one. He had a horrendous time fitting in as one of the few white children at his school. Most of the other white kids didn't like him either; they thought Troy was weird and detached. Troy was stubborn though, he didn't let much get him down. He was always a happy-go-lucky kid, and became an attractive young man from all his hard work in training.

After Troy graduated from high school, he attended Okinawa University for a year, and had a job at a local gas station, working the front desk. Things changed for Troy when he turned 19.

"Have a nice day Ma'am." Troy said to the customer as she left the store.

The gas station where Troy worked was in a word, shitty. So shitty in fact, that Troy hardly bothered cleaning it much anymore. When confronted by the manager, Troy had said, "Every time I clean it, it gets dirtier! I'm doing you a favor man." The manager had just grumbled and mentioned something about firing someone before sauntering off to the back of the store.

As Troy finished his shift it was getting dark.

"See ya on Tuesday, Monty!" Troy said as he walked out of the store.

"Yeah whatever boy, go home already." The old man yelled back at him.

_Jackass_, Troy thought. Troy got on his motorcycle and rode the way back home, taking his time and enjoying the fresh air. Troy planned on moving into a new apartment soon, he just needed the money.

"I'm home Gendun." Troy said as he walked into the small Japanese home. It was spring time and the cherry blossoms were blooming out front, making beautiful pink hues in the yard.

"Hello Troy," Gendun said nervously.

_What's up with him? _ Troy thought. _Gendun's always so sure of himself, he's only ever nervous when he talks about my parents._

"We need to talk, it's very important." Gendun continued.

"Talk about what?" Troy replied.

"It's your parents."

Troy groaned inwardly, _you're so predictable Gendun._

"They're dead, we've been over this."

"Troy, it's about your father specifically, something you don't know about him already."

That got Troy's attention, he sat down on a table in the dining room/living room/kitchen that small homes have.

Gendun continued on, "Your father was part of an organization," He faltered.

"And…?"

"A crime organization called the Yakuza." Gendun finished.

"The Yakuza?"

"I was with them as well; we were in the same branch."

"You can't be serious." Troy said dismissively.

"When your family came to Japan your father needed more money. His military job wasn't enough to provide for you and your mother. He had to make ends meet somehow, so he came to me." Gendun took a sip of some water he had poured before Troy entered the room.

"I told him I knew a way to help him make some extra yen. He became part of the same Yakuza syndicate I joined a couple years prior. He was good with business, so they gave your father a position as a weapons dealer."

Troy just stared blankly at the ground as Gendun spoke, not sure how to feel.

"A couple months before your parents were killed, your father got involved in a big deal. Over two thousand rifles and pistols were to be traded from a corporation to the Yakuza. I told your father to stay out of this deal, as the corporation we were dealing with was shady and mysterious."

"What happened to the deal?" Troy said blankly, still staring off into space.

"The boat doing the cargo delivery was intercepted by the Japanese police force. They arrested 20 corporate workers, and seized all the weapons, millions in losses. The corporation repaid the Yakuza the best way they saw fit, assassinating all of the business leaders that were a part of the deal; about 15 or 16 people in all."

"Dad being one of them…" Troy finished. He looked away, tears welling up in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me this until now?"

"It was to protect you, you must under-"

"Where did you fit in all of this, huh? The night my parents were killed you showed up, what was your role in the deal Gendun?"

Gendun opened his mouth, and then closed it, looking down shamefully.

Gendun continued on, "I was your father's business partner. I made negotiations with the corporations, while your father carried them out. As standard practice, when the shipment went bad and the corporation couldn't find everyone responsible, they interrogated me, the negotiator. I submitted, and told them about your father, and other arms dealers in Japan involved. You have to understand Troy! They almost drowned me when they were interrogating me!"

Troy got up and went to the door.

"Troy, wait, I left the Yakuza after that, and hid you away to protect you. If you knew, it would have been worse!"

Troy turned around with tears in his eyes, an angry look on his face.

"Fuck you Gendun! Fuck you for getting my parents killed!" Troy shouted, full of emotion.

Troy stormed out of the door and onto the sidewalk of the house. He put his helmet on and sped off on his motorcycle.

Troy knew he was thinking irrationally. He knew that Gendun was right; it would have been no use at all to tell him about the origin of his parent's death until he was old enough to fully understand.

When Gendun had talked about it, it brought forth a whole swath of bottled up emotions from inside Troy. He felt anger and sadness at the same time, and he was confused.

_How could my father have done that? How could he have been part of a crime family? He wasn't like that. _Troy thought. Troy pulled over into a nearby parking lot. It was empty, and Troy had ridden all the way to the rural part of the small island, about a half an hour ride. He was at a park, with large trees and benches and trash cans and sidewalks. It was already dark, and Troy was wondering what exactly he was doing here.

_I guess I just need to think. _He thought. _I shouldn't have blown up at Gendun like that. He gave me so much to make it up to me, and he was good to me as a kid. _Troy sat down at one of the park benches and melted into the seat. He hadn't realized just how tired he was until now. _I'll just go back, and smooth everything over, and we'll enjoy a nice cup of tea. _

Troy momentarily dozed off, but he was awoken abruptly by an extremely bright light coming from the sky.

Hovering above him was a huge aircraft, which looked similar to a giant hover boat that he'd seen pictures of his dad riding on, one that was big enough to carry aircraft; only this thing was flying. On the side of the large grey flying thing, was "S.S.B.", written in large uppercase red lettering.

Troy momentarily thought that it was a police helicopter, coming to catch him for speeding or something. Then he realized that this flying vehicle was massive, and nothing he'd seen before.

Suddenly there was a large amount of feedback sent into Troy's ears and he covered them. A voice came on a loudspeaker.

"_Do not attempt to resist _–BZZZT- _we will use force to extract you, Troy."_ The grainy voice said from the loudspeaker on the side of the ship.

_What the hell, how does it know my-_ Troy didn't have time to finish the thought, as he was snatched forcefully by a long mechanical claw on the tip of a metal wire. It came from a man sized hole in the bottom of the ship, and ripped Troy up onto his feet.

"What the fuck?"

Troy sputtered as he was dragged straight into the air at blinding speeds. He was dragged into the man sized hole which closed behind him, and into a small room. He landed hard on his back with a loud _thunk_, similar sounding to a sledge hammer on a ventilation duct. The metal claw retracted into a small cubby hole in the wall after releasing Troy.

"Urrghh…" Troy moaned as he rubbed his aching back. He stood up and looked around at his surroundings. He was in a dark room with a single flickering bulb hanging over his head.

Troy heard a distinct _foomp_, and then felt a prick in his thigh. He looked down in complete surprise, and saw a needle protruding from his pants. He picked it out of his skin painfully, before falling to the ground, unconscious.

"Go to sleep now…" spoke a sickly sweet voice from the shadows.

* * *

Special thanks to a special friend for his special proofreading!


	2. Chapter 2 Hall of Legends

Characters are owned by Nintendo.

Chapter 2: Hall of Legends

* * *

Troy awoke abruptly. The setting had changed; he was in an entirely different room now. Checking out his surroundings, he was now in a brightly lit room. The walls glowed softly, and were white as snow. There were no edges to the room, only smoothed corners that led into the walls, and then the ceiling.

Troy was leaned back in a body length seat, similar to a dentist's chair. It was the only piece of furniture in the small, cube-like room. His legs were strapped down in three different places, as well as his arms and torso. The only leverage he had was around his neck, where he could move his head off the seat a couple inches.

The room made Troy incredibly uneasy. He remembered discussing Gendun's interrogation, and a shiver went up his spine. Was he to be interrogated about his father's work? Troy had so many questions swirling around in his head.

_Am I going to die here? _He thought. He thought of all the things he'd regret if he were to die in this room. _I never got to say goodbye to my parents, I never said sorry to Gendun for being so stupid, I've never had any real friends, and I've never even held _hands _with a girl, much less kissed one or gone out with one. Yep, this sucks._

A portion of the wall slid open, interrupting Troy's thoughts. A woman wearing all white with a stethoscope wrapped around her neck walked in. She smiled warmly at Troy.

"How are you feeling?" The woman asked.

"Fine but, where the hell am I and-"

"All will be answered shortly," The woman interrupted. "For now, I'm just here for your official medical examination."

Troy frowned, _examination for what?_ The last time he'd had a medical examination was when he played track for his high school. The woman walked over and pulled the stethoscope out from around her neck. She abruptly lifted Troy's shirt up and stuck the cold metal piece onto Troy's chest.

Her eyes widened a small margin as she gazed upon Troy's hard muscled frame.

"Oh, you're toned," She smiled, "You'll be a favorite among the ladies."

Troy blushed visibly as she examined his heart rate.

_That would be a pleasant change of things, _he thought glumly.

"I don't get it, a favorite for what?" Troy asked.

"Like I told you, all will be made clear shortly. Your heart rate is looking normal, if a bit fast. Oh don't be nervous dear, you'll do fine I'm sure."

_Do fine in what, lady? _Troy wanted to yell at her. _And why am I strapped to this table?_

The woman took some other standard tests: blood pressure, allergies or ailments, gag reflex, eye and ear tests, the whole nine yards.

"We got your weight and height earlier. Sorry about that whole tranquilizer thing, some contestants tend to be a bit… tricky." The woman giggled and smiled at him weirdly.

"Wait, contestants?"

"Oh silly me, well I must be off! Good luck dear."

Troy couldn't help but think that the woman acted a bit like his mother. The woman left through the same door she came in, and left Troy alone with his thoughts. Troy was thoroughly confused; he at least knew he'd be part of some kind of competition, since she had said "contestants." Troy suddenly felt very lonely. He'd of course always felt lonely, he didn't have any friends and his only companion wasn't anywhere near his own age. However, this was different. He was now in a strange place with no bearing of time and he was alone.

That changed quickly, as four men came into the room the same way the woman had. The burly men awkwardly shouldered through the small door frame, and stood against the wall. A smaller, mousy looking man followed in after them. All of the larger men wore business attire and dark shades, while the smaller man wore flip flops and a Hawaiian style surfer button down shirt. Troy looked at them the best he could, facing perpendicular to them, and with the seat in the way.

The mouse man stepped forward. "Hello, Troy of Earth."

_Of Earth… what does that mean?_

"Uhh, hi." Troy answered awkwardly.

"We have come to brief you on your stay here at the S.S.B. arena."

"An aren-"

"Quiet boy, I was not done speaking yet."

Troy didn't like the smaller man's attitude, or his looks for that matter.

"As I was saying, you are in the S.S.B. arena, where champions from all over the universe come to put on a show for people and creatures everywhere."

_Okay, now I'm really confused, _Troy thought.

"Is this some kind of-"

"You will fight to the death in the arena with other skilled combatants." The small man said, interrupting Troy.

A look of absolute horror spread across Troy's face. _To the death?_

"Oh don't look at me that way boy, silly earthlings haven't even… never mind. Anyway, you will be rematerialized in your prior state of health after the battle. You will have only felt and appeared to be damaged, whereas you truly won't be."

The small man continued after musing at Troy's confusion.

"Between matches you will have free time in the facility, where you will be among other combatants. There are plenty of high quality training rooms you can use. Meal times and a curfew will be enforced, and you are not to exit the facility, not that you could anyway."

"Try not to get into any trouble with other combatants outside the arena. The punishment is solitary confinement and exclusion of meal times; the rules do not have any exceptions. Do I make myself clear?"

Troy only nodded, completely floored at what was being explained to him.

"Good, the guards will release you and take you to your quarters. Dinner is at six o'clock, S-S-B time."

_Have I been out an entire day? I ate dinner before leaving the house, and it's already dinner again?_

The man turned and left the room, and the 4 large men sauntered over to where Troy was laying. One of them pressed a few buttons on a screen out of Troy's view, and the straps were released.

"No funny business kid, solitary confinement is just around the corner." One of the large men said.

Two of the other men grabbed Troy roughly by his upper arms.

Troy protested loudly, "What are you doing?"

"Shut up," One of them said.

Troy struggled for a bit, to no avail. A third guard grabbed him by his legs as well, and Troy couldn't move.

The guards carried Troy through the door and down a long, narrow hallway. Troy remembered what Gendun had taught him in Tai Chi, to always be observant of your surroundings, as it might prove useful to you in the future.

Troy looked up and down the sides of the hallway. The walls were solid metal, and grey. The ceiling was half obscured by lights embedded into it. As the men carried Troy, he also noticed cameras protruding from the ceiling every 20 or so feet. They were most likely always on, and there was no possible way Troy could go anywhere unnoticed. Seconds turned into minutes, and the guards had let go of Troy; they instead pushed him along every once in a while, as he walked in between them.

On the left wall, there were now windows. The long, rounded, rectangle windows peered into empty rooms, some with the lights off. There were maybe 15 or so windows ahead of him, if he had to guess.

The rooms were large, about the size of a tennis court. Each room Troy peered into had the same interior; there was a ramp that ran parallel to the hallway, which led from the door to the lowered floor of the room. The walls were paneled, and had the same metallic look as the hallway. The floor was dark, yet reflective, and looked like glass.

Off to the side, was a raised podium. The podium was metallic, and had a glowing face on top. The podiums looked like large computers, or something similar. They each had a screen on top that lit up with different colors, and information. Each one sat maybe 5 feet from the wall. They were all so futuristic looking, like something from a movie.

In the next window ahead, Troy saw flashes of light, and heard muffled sounds coming from inside the room. As they passed the room, Troy peered inside. What he saw made his mouth swing wide open. A pink looking puff ball stood in the center of the floor, and off to the side was the same podium-console. Only this time, a man stood in front of it, looking on at the pink creature. Standing next to 'pinky' were 3 malleable looking holograms, with manikin shaped bodies, all of them had no facial features.

_Whoa, this is surreal, _Troy thought. The man pressed a button inside the room, and the manikins began lunging at the pink thing. Before Troy could see any more, a guard pushed Troy, and he had to keep walking.

_The training rooms that man had mentioned, those must be the ones. _There were no more creatures or people in any of the other training rooms, and Troy wondered just how many "contestants" there were in this "arena."

They rounded a corner and started passing by numbered doors, 201, 202 etc. Troy remembered going on vacation with Gendun a while back on mainland Japan. They didn't go on vacations often, because they hadn't had much money, so Troy remembered this especially. The rooms in their hotel were numbered by floor, the first number representing which floor you were on.

_We must be on the second floor of this facility. What does the first floor have on it, are there more floors? Where am I, how did I get here, and who are these people?_

Troy had so many questions but, he knew the big buffoons leading him to his room wouldn't be much help, so he stayed quiet.

"Here's your room kid." The same large man who was talking to him earlier said, "The facility is on lockdown at the moment, since you came in the ship. Only rooms and training rooms are open during lockdown."

They had stopped at a room that said _216 _on the name plate outside the door. The man pressed a green button on a small console next to the door, and then he retrieved a card from his pocket, and swiped it in the console.

The door opened and a big man shoved Troy inside. The door shut behind him, and was locked from the outside with a small _beep_.

Troy looked around inside the room and found two beds, with space in between them, and on the far end of the room were two identical looking cabinets. Everything was a different shade of grey, and the floor was white and metallic. In the far left corner of the room there was a man sized door that led to what looked like a bathroom with a shower stall in it.

Sitting on the bed to the left of the door, staring at Troy wide eyed, was a man about Troy's age. He had blonde hair, a green tunic and hood, and long pointy ears. He also wore tan leggings, and brown boots. He had a belt and an undershirt on. The man also had large blue eyes and an intense gaze that looked over Troy with an analytic eye. Sitting on the cabinet by his bed was a blue sword, and a blue shield with some other strange looking items that Troy didn't recognize immediately.

The man stood up.

"Hi, I'm Link, nice to meet you." The man stood, smiled friendly at Troy, and extended a hand.

Troy shook his hand, "My name's Troy. I have some questions for you Link."

Link managed to answer question after question that Troy had. Troy was on a facility on a distant planet. The facility was about three miles away over land from a huge dome coliseum. The coliseum is where citizens from all over the galaxy would come to watch champions fight in glorious battle.

"What, you mean like the Roman Gladiators?" Troy asked Link. Troy had no belongings, so he had just sat down on his bed and faced the young man sitting across from him. Link sat cross legged on his bed, facing Troy.

"What?"

"Never mind, something from my home. What time is it?"

"This screen says _5:50 S.S_._B._"

Troy remembered dinner was supposed to be in ten minutes.

"Say Link, where are you from anyway?" Troy asked.

"A land called Hyrule; I lived in a small village a day's journey away from the royal castle. I was just on my way to visit a friend of mine when I was abducted by a large flying thing. My friend is here as well, her name is Zelda."

"Similar thing happened to me, that large flying thing captured me too. I was sitting in a park a small ways from home."

"It seems we were both away from home… perhaps in a secluded area?"

"Yeah, it was the middle of bumfuck nowhere."

"Bumfuck… is that a village where you're from?"

Troy chuckled, "No man, forget it. Dinner is in-"

"_PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY OVER TO THE DINING HALL IN THE CENTER OF THE FACILITY. LOCK DOWN IS NOW OVER, THAT IS ALL."_

"Err… now I suppose." Troy finished.

The door opened and streaming by the small room were a lot of strange looking "champions." There was a fox wearing clothes, a big nosed Italian man, a monkey and a gorilla, a robot, and even a large orange dragon. Many more random looking creatures and people alike made their way down the hallway to the left, going away from where Troy had come from.

Link got up and walked to the door, turning around to face Troy. "Come on, the food's pretty good here."

Troy got up and walked with Link down the long hall way. When they arrived to the large dining hall, Troy was amazed by how many people there were in the room. There were some familiar faces he had recognized from the hallway, and the large pink puff ball that he had seen training earlier. Food was being distributed in plates across the tables by small mushroom looking creatures with no arms, and small men wearing sleeveless shirts and spotted round hats.

_This is bizarre as hell. I've never seen anything like this before._ Troy thought.

Link started walking to a table with two… animals sitting at the table. They weren't exactly animals though, they were wearing clothes and shoes but, they had the heads of a fox and a bird.

Link motioned for him to join them and Troy sat down at the rounded, grey table.

"Guys this is Troy, he was put in my room today about half an hour ago. Troy this is Fox," Link motioned to the one that looked like a, well… fox. "And this is Falco," Link then motioned to the bird man with a large beak and red shadowed eyes.

"Hi." Troy said happily, trying to break the ice.

"Has he fought yet?" Fox asked.

"He just got here dude, half an hour ago." Falco said to his buddy.

"Ah right. Well can you fight?" Fox directed his attention to Troy.

Troy smiled, fighting was one thing he could do right, "Yeah, pretty well too." Troy answered with confidence.

"I guess we'll see then," said Fox.

A small mushroom man with one big tooth came over carrying a plate on his cone head, dropped it in front of Troy, and walked off. Similar mushroom things did the same with Fox and Falco. Hamburger and fries, with a squirt of ketchup sat on his plate. Troy was hungry and began munching on some fries while his table did the same. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. He found different creatures and people sitting at tables and eating. The mushroom men and happy looking spotty hats all began to sit down and serve themselves as well.

Link noticed Troy looking at the mushrooms and small people and said, "Goombas. The small mushrooms are Goombas, and the small men are citizens of the mushroom kingdom."

"How do you know that?" Troy asked.

"Mario told me, the big nosed guy over there, the one with the red hat."

Troy could see why Link was so specific, there were a couple big nosed Italian dudes sitting at a table on the far end of the dining hall, munching happily. Just then something caught Troy's eye. A tall woman with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail walked into the dining hall. She looked to be about Troy's age, if not a year older or so.

_There are women here?_ Troy thought. Looking around, Troy spotted a table with some women, that pink puff ball from earlier, and an Eskimo child eating at it. Troy returned his gaze back to the woman walking between the tables. She was gorgeous, wearing a plain white shirt and jean shorts. She wore black sneakers with a logo on them that Troy had never seen before.

"She's cute." Troy said matter-of-factly.

Fox and Falco looked up at what Troy was gazing at and just grunted.

"She's a freak," Fox said, "She sits at her own table, doesn't ever talk much, and I don't think she has any friends at all. She wears this metal suit when she fights, which I frankly see as cheating, and glares at anyone that comes near her."

_A freak… _Troy thought. Those words sounded all too familiar. It was one of the words the other kids commonly used to describe Troy in school. He didn't fit in at all, and had sat by himself as well.

Troy watched as a large gorilla was laughing with a small monkey and another big nosed Italian man. This one was wearing a yellow hat with a "W" written in purple on it. He had huge teeth, and was a small fat man. As the blonde haired girl walked by, the gorilla, which was wearing a red tie, said something to the attractive woman, something Troy couldn't make out due to the noise level of the room. The girl stopped in her tracks and gave the oversized chimp a murderous look, one that would have made Troy melt into a puddle. The gorilla just frowned uneasily as the woman walked away.

The blonde, true to Fox's words, sat by herself at a table as far away from everyone as you could get in the room. A "Goomba" brought her some food, and she began eating.

"What's her name?" Troy said, breaking the silence at his table.

"Don't know, don't care." Falco said.

Link gave Falco an odd look before looking at Troy, "She got here a couple of days ago, and like Fox said, doesn't talk to anyone really. None of us have had a chance to learn her name."

_She must be so lonely, days without speaking to anyone at all._

"I'm gonna go talk to her." Troy said with a big smile.

Fox and Falco froze, looking at Troy wide eyed.

Link did the same, and said, "I wouldn't do that. The last guy that tried to talk to her at her table, she punched in the face. They both sat in solitary for the rest of the day."

Troy looked at them oddly. _Why would she do that? _He wondered. _The guy was probably just rude to her; she's probably a cool girl._

Troy stood up and left the table anyway, ignoring Link's warnings.

The three guys looked at Troy with pity, Fox said, "This is gonna be great," and he leaned back in his chair.

Troy made his way straight over to the girl, a big grin on his face. _I'm gonna be the first one she talks to, _he thought.

As Troy approached, the blonde girl noticed him, and for an instant, there was a sad expression in her eyes, like she had just thought of something depressing. She quickly masked the face with a glare sharp enough to cut diamonds as Troy sat down at the table. She held the glare as Troy extended his hand.

"Hi, I'm Troy, what's your name?" Troy said.

The girl glared straight into Troy's eyes as he sat there, waiting for a second before his hand drooped. Back at the table where Link and the other two were at, they all burst out laughing as Troy awkwardly sat there for a few seconds. A Goomba placed another plate of food in front of Troy's new seat, then scattered when the blonde woman averted her stare to him.

Troy, unfazed, said, "So uhh, where are you from?"

The girl returned to her food, taking a very large bite of her hamburger, completely ignoring Troy, and then she stood up, walking away with her mouth full.

Troy gazed at her thin waist and sculpted back from behind as she skulked off through the doors, walking down the hall.

_Damn, she must work out a lot_, Troy mused.

Troy made his way back to his original seat, looking glumly at his friends. Seeing his face, they all burst out laughing again; Falco was so overcome he banged his fist on the table wildly.

"That couldn't have gone any better my man!" Fox said, still giggling madly.

Troy just glared at him before feeling infected by the laughter, and just smiled at his food. _Well, at least I made an attempt to talk to her, _he thought.

"Yep, and I'm gonna try again tomorrow." Troy said proudly.

"Hey Fox, remind me to bring my camera, man." Falco said, breathing heavily. Both of them just laughed some more, while Link grinned merrily.

_This place isn't so bad, _Troy thought to himself.

* * *

So I'll post a new chapter every 10 days! :)


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